About Me
Hi I’m Ellie, I studied Fashion Design and Technology.
I am a Design and technology student I have studied Menswear for three years but created a final collection for young women with diverse abilities. My style has always been very feminine and I love exploring ideas of sexuality, equality and inclusion through my designs. I have always designed to empower the consumer.
A few years ago I fell and broke my ankle, I ended up having surgery due to a severe break and was unable to walk for three months. This experience gave me a tiny insight into the world of people with disabilities. This experience is what stemmed the idea behind my final collection. Recondition is a capsule collection which is designed with women of diverse abilities in mind. I hope moving forward to release this collection and build Recondition into a real brand for real people.
INSPIRATION
My inspiration began with meeting the consumer.
Right at the beginning of this project I met and spoke to a number of incredible people. Understanding the consumer was something so important to my work, as an able bodied person my downfall is lack of personal experience. So I reached out to a number of charities and talent agencies to try and gain this information from real consumers. I heard such amazing stories and am so grateful to the incredible people who spoke to me, without them I couldn’t’t have achieved what I did.
Three main elements became key to every decision I made throughout the process. Fastenings, function and fit. These three things are the main things that cause issues for the consumer. Another popular opinion was the need for, contemporary designs, and felt current accessible brands don’t offer this. Through my secondary research I found that most adaptive garments come under the workwear category. I wanted to change this and create a collection which is exciting, fun and empowering for the consumer.
MY WORK
PORTFOLIOS
Consumer Board
Market Analysis
Concept Board
Colour and Fabric Board
Trench Development
Illustrated Line-up
Outfit One
Outfit Two
Outfit Three
Outfit Four
Shoot
Shoot
GFW X Untagged Upcycling Concept
Development Process
Development Process
Shoot
Dandy Style Concept
Outfits Board
Shoot
DETAIL
The Adaptable Trench
The hero piece of my collection is the adaptable trench, it is designed in a modular way. The concept is that it would work for more than one consumer. Using hidden magnets and magnetic zips the coat is designed to work equally well for a seated or standing wearer. The length of the coat is detachable using two magnetic zips produced by Ideal Fasteners who sponsored the zips in my collection. Whether the wearer wants to detach the length for aesthetic reasons or functionality of not wanting to be sat on it, it is made easy with Ideal Fasteners magnezips. The top section comes apart in two pieces to allow a wheelchair user to put the coat on while sat in their chair, using hidden magnets to snap the back shut. The front fastenings are also hidden magnets covered with buttons to give the look for a traditional trench.
“Nothing Is More Fashionable Than Inclusivity” - Sinéad Burke
Graduate Fashion Week in partnership with:
